Saturday, December 28, 2024

Vinny’s Corner-Stan Lee’s Birthday born 1922 died 2018

· Read-Theodore Dresser’s (died today 1945) writer of “Sister Carrie” a Novel about the killing of childlike innocence.

· Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary

· How to celebrate Dec 28th

o Start off your day by reaching out to a friend for National Call a Friend Day. Have a chat, catch up, or make plans for later. Next, celebrate National Download Day by discovering and downloading a new app, song, or podcast. Treat yourself to some chocolate candies for National Chocolate Candy Day. Indulge in your favorite sweet treats or try something new. For National Card Playing Day, gather some friends or family and enjoy a friendly card game. Make it more interesting with some snacks and drinks. Take a break and watch a short film for National Short Film Day. Explore different genres and styles to find something that resonates with you. Reflect on the importance of friendship and togetherness on Holy Innocents Day. Show appreciation for your loved ones and the bonds you share. End the day by saying the Pledge of Allegiance for Pledge of Allegiance Day. Honor your country and take a moment to reflect on its values. Embrace this unique assortment of holidays to connect, relax, and enjoy the little things in life.

December 28 Saturday-Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

CARD PLAYING DAY

Jeremiah, Chapter 10, Verse 2

Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the ways of the nations, and have no FEAR of the signs in the heavens, even though the nations fear them.

What are the ways of the nations?

The making of idols is the way of nations.

Have you worshiped idols?

Think about it. Our idols are expressed in what we love, in what we think, in the things we see, and what we work for.

“Lord, thank you for helping me see more clearly than ever that “what I am” is your gift to me and “what I become” is my gift back to you.” (Poem by Melvin Banggollay)

He did not create us out of necessity; He did not need us. He did not create us out of justice; He owed us nothing. No, it is to His sheer love that we owe our existence. Therefore, we must strive to be humble in accepting our mistakes, to know how to say, “I was wrong.” You have good qualities, great qualities.

Are you not a marvel of creation, made in the image of God?

You are a masterpiece of His love, wounded, disfigured by sin, but remade by the Redeemer, more beautiful than before—and at what a price! Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. One drowns very quickly in gall. Keep watch, therefore, over your soul; swallow the bitterness, as Jesus swallowed the vinegar on Calvary, and know how to smile at those who cause you pain. Poverty, austerity, fasting, prayer, and the gift of miracles, without love of our brothers, all are pure illusion. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, give me Your Heart to love my neighbor. The doctrine of abandonment, which sees God in everything, will make you marvelously available for this work. This is one of its richest secrets, for it obliges us to renounce, when necessary, our own views and our little personal plans, even our plans for sanctification. This total abandonment is the pinnacle of holiness and love, because it identifies us more perfectly with Jesus, who lived only to do the will of His Father.^{^[1]}

Feast of the Holy Innocents^{^[2]}

DECEMBER 28.

THE account of the martyrdom of these children is given in the gospel of to-day. The Church justly honors them as martyrs, since they confessed Christ, if not by the mouth, yet by their death, which they suffered by reason of Herod s hatred against Christ.

The Introit of the Mass reads: “Out of the mouth of infants and suckling’s Thou hast perfected praise, because of Thy enemies, O Lord. O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth.”

Prayer.

O God, Whose praise the martyred innocents confessed on this day not by speaking, but by dying mortify in us all the evils of vices, that our life also may confess by actions Thy faith, which our tongue proclaims.

EPISTLE. Apoc. xiv. 1-5.

In those days I beheld a Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred forty-four thousand having His name, and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients: and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb: and in their mouth there was found no lie: for they are without spot before the throne of God.

GOSPEL. Matt. ii. 13-18.

At that time: An angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and His Mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee: for it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy Him. Who arose, and took the child and His Mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men-children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the “Wise Men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

What people are like Herod?

All those who destroy children, in body or in soul; for example, unmanly men who are cruel to their wives while with child, who strike them, incite them to anger, or terrify them; heedless parents who neglect their little ones, who do not take pains to keep them clean and healthy; those corrupt and godless women who destroy the fruit of their shame either before or after birth, and while yet unbaptized. But more cruel than all these, and even than Herod himself, are they who scandalize little children by impure conversations, by indecent songs, by acts of impurity in their presence, or by inciting them to the like; for thereby they plunge the souls of the children into destruction.

Innocents Day^{^[3]}

In many religious communities, Innocents' Day was the traditional feast for the youngest members. In keeping with the upside-down spirit of Twelfth night, the youngest novice had the privilege of sitting at the first place or even of being abbot for a day. Feast of the Holy Innocents is a day for the younger members of the family or religious community. Some kind of "baby food" -- such as a hot cereal with sugar and cinnamon -- is generally served to them. In the family, the youngest member is also the "celebrity" of the day, especially if he is a baby. Customs like decorating the crib or blessing the baby are appropriate ways of observing the feast. Today, on the day in which little ones shed their blood for Christ, was the festival for choirboys and students.

Feast of the Holy Innocents - Day Four[4]

The Holy Innocents saved the Child Jesus from death by King Herod by the shedding of their own blood. The Holy Innocents are the special patrons of small children, who can please the Christ Child by being obedient and helpful to parents, and by sharing their toys and loving their siblings and playmates.

The feast of the Holy Innocents is an excellent time for parents to inaugurate the custom of blessing their children. From the Ritual comes the form which we use on solemn occasions, such as First Communion. But parents can simply sign a cross on the child's forehead with the right thumb dipped in holy water and say: May God bless you, and may He be the Guardian of your heart and mind—the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessing

O Lord, Jesus Christ, Who didst embrace and lay thy hands upon the little children when they came to thee, and didst say to them: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs, and their angels always see the face of my Father," — look with a Father's eye upon the innocence of these children and their parents' devotion, and bless them this day through our ministry. By thy grace and goodness let them make progress in desiring thee, loving thee, fearing thee, obeying thy commandments — thus coming to their destined home, through thee, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day Four activity (Holy Innocents)
Day Four recipe (Blanc Mange)

Today I will ask the Lord to bless all my seven children! (Claire, Christopher, Candace, Dara, Rachel, Nicole and Vincent)

Four Calling Birds

Today in the song the 12 days of Christmas the 4th day we sing of the Four Calling Birds which represent the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. During the upcoming year it would make a worthy project to read them all. These gospels will help us to be persons of courage.

Christmas Calendar[5]

Read: Read today about the Holy Innocents who were put to death by King Herod.

Reflect: The observances of the Christmas season illuminate many key themes for the faithful. Meditate today on this one:

"The sacredness of human life and the wonderful event that is every birth, since the Word of life came amongst men and was made visible through his birth of the Virgin Mary (see 1 Jn 1:2)."

Pray the Rosary for life today.

Act: Add an intercession for life that has particular meaning for your family to the mealtime blessing today.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 199

The sacrament of forgiveness

1446 Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. the Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."

1447 Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before receiving reconciliation. To this "order of penitents" (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the "private" practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day.

1448 Beneath the changes in discipline and celebration that this sacrament has undergone over the centuries, the same fundamental structure is to be discerned. It comprises two equally essential elements: on the one hand, the acts of the man who undergoes conversion through the action of the Holy Spirit: namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; on the other, God's action through the intervention of the Church. the Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgives sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction, also prays for the sinner and does penance with him. Thus the sinner is healed and re-established in ecclesial communion.

1449 The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:

God, the Father of mercies,

through the death and the resurrection of his Son

has reconciled the world to himself

and sent the Holy Spirit among us

for the forgiveness of sins;

through the ministry of the Church

may God give you pardon and peace,

and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

1450 "Penance requires . . . the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction."

Contrition

1451 Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."

1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.

1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.

1454 The reception of this sacrament ought to be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God. the passages best suited to this can be found in the moral catechesis of the Gospels and the apostolic Letters, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic teachings.

Card Playing Day[6]

The holiday season has come and gone, and the end of the year is in sight.

You know what you need to do now?

That’s right, you need to sit back and play out a few rounds of solitaire, or maybe get the family together for a night of Texas Hold’em, Slap Jack, or War. Whatever your pleasure, Card Playing Day is a chance to wind down from all the kerfuffle of the season by engaging in a card game or three. Playing cards are thought to have first been introduced to the world in China before spreading across the globe to India, Persia, and ultimately every corner of this… sphere. Ok, so that corner thing never has made sense, unless you’re talking about a rectangular playing card, which thankfully we are! A whole pack of them in fact. Playing cards have always been the last bastion of entertainment in inclement weather, and thus were a favorite of the winter holidays.

After all, before the invention of television and electricity, what was one to do when you’d heard all of Uncle Joe’s story, and couldn’t possibly bring yourself to lay your eyes on another dog-eared novel?

That’s right, you play cards! There are numerous games that exist in the world, hundreds from every culture imaginable. Some games are unique to a particular region, or at least distinct to it (Like Baccarat) or can be found in variations all over the world while clearly being recognizable (like poker). Others still involve the use of playing boards as a utility in keeping track of points, such as cribbage. Card Playing Day is an opportunity and excuse to return to this age-old form of entertainment, and to spend a little time alone, or connecting with your family.

How to celebrate Card Playing Day

Well, the simplest way to celebrate Card Playing Day is, of course, to participate in the aforementioned past-time! However, if you’re really looking to make an experience out of Card Playing Day, you may consider trying to learn a variation of a game you already know, or even learning a completely new card game altogether. There’re countless games out there you can learn, and if the game you know has lost its appeal, it’s time to learn another one! We also suggest getting out there and investing in a new deck of cards, there are limitless variations on style and theme, and a new deck can make a new game even more fun!

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Binding and suppressing the Devils Evil works.

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary